Gulp! Will Brexit put £1.50 on the cost of EU wine?
WINE drinkers face paying an extra £1.50 on a bottle from Europe – because of post-Brexit bureaucracy.
Importers claim extra paperwork and higher haulage costs will hit customers’ pockets.
They also believe that supermarkets and offlicences will offer a narrower range of European wines because they cannot generate sufficient volume of sales to cover the introduction of flatrate costs per shipment.
About 28million consumers drink wine at least once a month, say research group Wine Intelligence, with the UK importing £2.2billion worth of the drink from the EU each year.
Daniel Lambert, a wholesaler who imports about two million bottles a year for retailers, believes post-Brexit bureaucracy may add £1 to £1.50 to the price of a £12 bottle of wine.
Portugal Vineyards, a retailer based in Porto, has told customers that the cost of Vidigal Porta 6 – one of its bestselling wines in the UK – will increase from about £4.70 to between £7 and £8.
New trade rules have sounded the death knell for booze cruises to France. Travellers returning from the EU can now bring only 24 bottles of wine in their cars without paying duty.
Labour rounded on Michael Gove, one of the architects of Brexit, for the prospective price rises. Tonia Antoniazzi, MP for Gower, said: ‘Lots of people will be feeling like they were sold a vintage bottle only to find it corked on arrival. Thanks to Michael Gove, it will be even more expensive for people to drown their sorrows during lockdown... as a result of his Brexit deal.’
But a source close to Mr Gove said the Government had taken ‘swift action’ to resolve issues arising from Brexit and that ‘such significant change would inevitably cause some turbulence’.